• September 6, 2011

Market research firm iPerceptions Inc., says slight demand and cautious spending by consumers are contributing to a delayed recovery in the automotive industry.

The firm says that based on U.S. sales in the first half, some 13 million vehicles will be sold this year. "The economy continues to drag and enthusiasm for purchasing new cars isn't as great as automakers would like," said Claude Guay, president and CEO of iPerceptions, in a statement. "Still, in Q2 there was an increase in the number of website visitors planning to purchase within a month. Even a modest improvement is noteworthy at a time when inventory levels are low, unemployment is high and purchase incentives are unimpressive."

Consumers looking to make a purchase within the next month increased from 14.1% in Q1 to 15.1% in Q2. That was contemporaneous with a reduction in the proportion of visitors who reported being further out in the purchase process in Q2.

The firm says the report analyzes real-time feedback from more than 50,000 people visiting 20 North American automotive brand Web sites and nearly 10,000 people visiting 91 international automotive retail Web sites to identify the most important issues and trends facing the industry.